


Love You More

by sharpiesgal (TigerLily)



Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: Established Relationship, Horatio needs a hug, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-13 09:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2145051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLily/pseuds/sharpiesgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Horatio and Rick have a fight, but then end up making up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love You More

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lasairfhiona](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/gifts).



Horatio glared at his reflection in the dresser mirror as he fought with the bow tie that came with his rented tuxedo. He had to attend the annual policeman’s ball, and all he really wanted to do was stay home and watch cheesy movies with his lover.

“You look delectable in that,” Rick quietly remarked while mentally removing the tuxedo from the redhead a piece at a time. He was casually lounging on their king size bed while Horatio got ready for the evening.

“Really?” Horatio snarked trying very hard not to roll his eyes at his lover. “And why aren’t you getting ready?”

“Because I was smart and agreed to work while the rest of you fritter the night away with rubber chicken, too much alcohol and meaningless platitudes,” Rick explained with a wry grin. He had come home for his lunch break to cheer his lover up knowing that the redhead would make him pay for it later.

“I hate you,” Horatio grumbled and stalked from the bedroom his bow tie still undone and hanging around his neck. He gave up trying to tie it correctly. He didn’t want to attend the ball in the first place, but being in charge of the crime lab made it mandatory for him to attend, especially if he wanted the lab to keep its funding.

That very idea pissed him off and he knew he needed to find an outlet for the anger before it got the better of him. One day he was going to tell everyone in the upper echelons of the department exactly what he thought of them.

But, that day was way off in the distant future, hence the desire to numb himself with a couple of scotches from their well stocked bar before braving the political bullshit that was Miami’s high society.

Rick followed at a more sedate pace and leaned in the archway watching the redhead pace the tight confines of their minimalist living room with a tumbler clutched in his right hand.

“One more of those and you’re going to force me to ground you to the house,” he lightly quipped hiding his concern for his lover’s desire to drink instead of talking about what was truly bothering him.

“Please do,” Horatio replied as he knocked back his drink and poured himself another. “You know I’ve been a bad boy.”

“Horatio,” Rick softly sighed.

“What?”

“You can’t say things like that and not expect me to act on them.”

“I want you to act on them.”

“You think you do,” Rick countered. “You just want to be distracted.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Horatio demanded finishing his second drink and slamming the tumbler down on the bar.

“Normally, nothing,” Rick answered with an even tone. It was hard trying to talk Horatio out of a snit and he didn’t have the time to fuck the redhead out of his current one. “But, tonight you have an obligation, so man up, go and get it over with for another year.”

“Fuck you,” Horatio growled before he stormed out the door and into the taxi that would take him to the ball.

*&*

Rick stood in the shadows of the ballroom watching Horatio mingle with people he disliked with a passion. It always amazed Rick how the redhead could be a charming rascal one moment and an absolute dick the next.

He let out a quiet sigh and continued to follow his lover around the room waiting for the moment to spring his surprise on him.

He needed to apologize. He hadn’t meant to start a fight with his lover. He only wanted to cheer the redhead up, but hadn’t realized until the last moment that Horatio had been spoiling for a fight.

*&*

“Flying solo again, Lieutenant?”

Horatio hid a grimace of distaste behind a fake smile as he looked up from the tumbler of whiskey in his hand to greet Miami’s police commissioner. “It would appear so, sir.”

“A handsome man like you, that’s a pity,” the commissioner murmured unsympathetically.

“Harold,” the commissioner’s wife admonished. “That wasn’t nice. Horatio probably has someone at home waiting for him.”

Horatio carefully considered his answer since he and Rick hadn’t made their relationship public. He didn’t want to out them and add more problems to the one they were already facing with his latest snit fit. “Unfortunately,” he began and stopped when he saw Rick make his way through the crowd.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Rick apologized as he brushed a soft kiss against Horatio’s cheek. “It was hell trying to find someone to trade with me at the last minute.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Horatio whispered as he caught hold of Rick’s hand brought it to his lips to brush a kiss against the knuckles.

“Just follow my lead,” Rick whispered back. “I’ve been friends with the commissioner’s wife since college.”

Horatio gave Rick a curt nod and allowed his lover to control the conversation grateful for the moral support, but they would be having a long talk when they got home.

*&*

Horatio closed the front door and leaned against it still trying to come terms with the fact that his lover was more of a social butterfly than he had ever let on to being.

Rick turned and faced Horatio. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“For,” Rick started and then stopped throwing his hands in the air. “I don’t know. Being an ass, I guess.”

Horatio softly smiled. “I think I was the ass, because I didn’t want to go and was looking for a reason not to go. When you didn’t give me one, I just got pissed off and ran away like a spoiled child.”

“Yeah, you did,” Rick quietly agreed. “But, I could have been less blunt.”

“Then that wouldn’t have been you, and I would have been worried,” Horatio answered. He pushed off the door and joined Rick in the center of the living room. He pulled the other man into a warm embrace. “Thank you for the rescue.”

“You’re welcome,” Rick replied. “Now, let’s go to bed.”

“To sleep?”

“Oh, no,” Rick breathed before leaning down to take Horatio’s mouth in a breath stealing kiss. “I plan to ravish you.”

“This is a plan I can get behind,” Horatio joked.

“Good, because tomorrow is going to be a long and interesting day now that everyone knows we’re a couple.”

“And something we will face together,” Horatio vowed.

“I love you,” Rick said taking Horatio’s hand and leading him down the hallway to their bedroom.

“I love you more,” Horatio countered with a warm smile as he followed his lover into their bedroom. His night was ending better than how it started.

Fin


End file.
